There are two versions of this watch, and the numbers that separate them are worth writing down: 137 grams against 210 grams.
The steel Seamaster Professional chronograph weighs 210g. Yours — the full titanium 2298.80.00, case and bracelet both — weighs 137. That is a 73-gram difference on a 41.5mm chronograph, and it is the entire reason this reference exists and the entire reason collectors still hunt it.
Which sets up the only strap question that really matters here: whatever you put on it must not give that back.
The fit: 20mm
The 2298.80.00 is 41.5mm without the crown, with a 48.5mm lug-to-lug, and the lug width is 20mm.
Two collections will fit it:
- Our Seamaster 300 straps name your reference directly in their compatibility list and run 20mm, 21mm and 22mm — select 20mm. This is the wider colour range and every pick below comes from it.
- Our Diver 300M straps also run 20mm if you prefer that cut.
On buckle colour, one thought specific to titanium: silver is the closest match, but be aware that titanium is a darker, greyer metal than steel, so a bright polished buckle will read lighter than your case rather than matching it. Black is the alternative if you would rather nothing draw attention at the clasp.
Spring bars are included. The Omega strap installation tool is worth using on this one — titanium marks more easily than steel, and the lugs are the first place it shows.
What you own
A 41.5mm titanium case with a matching titanium bracelet, a blue wave dial with three subdials, a blue bezel insert, and 300 metres of water resistance. Inside is the calibre 1164, built on the ETA 7750, running at 28,800 vph with 25 jewels and around 42 hours of reserve. Production ran from the late 1990s. The bracelet is the Omega 1504 with Ti-826 end links, and it is around 16mm thick overall.
Two things owners of these tend to know that nobody else does.
Some examples carry a small star stamped on the underside of a lug. It marks a watch pulled from a batch for quality inspection. It adds nothing to the value and it is a lovely thing to find.
And this is the watch Chuck Maddox chose. Maddox was one of the most respected Omega collectors there has ever been, and of all the Seamaster chronographs it was the titanium one he wore. After his death, Fratello's Robert-Jan Broer bought a 2298.80 as an homage to him. If you own this reference you are in unusually good company, and most people looking at your wrist have no idea.
Why titanium changes the strap brief
Three things follow from the material, and none of them apply to the steel version.
The weight is the point, so protect it. A 73-gram advantage sounds abstract until you have worn a 210-gram chronograph for a full day. Rubber is the lightest thing you can put on this watch — lighter than the titanium bracelet, considerably lighter than any steel replacement — so it does not just preserve the advantage, it extends it.
Titanium is not the colour of steel. It is darker and greyer, closer to gunmetal. Strap colours that were chosen to sit against bright polished steel behave differently here: pale colours contrast harder, and deep colours read deeper rather than getting swallowed.
Titanium scratches more easily, and these are often badly polished. On a watch this age, the bracelet is usually the worst-preserved component, and a clean original titanium bracelet with its correct end links is not a cheap thing to replace. Every day it spends in the box is a day it stops getting worse.
Four that work.
1. Blue — the tonal one, and better here than on steel
Your dial is blue and so is your bezel insert. A blue strap makes the watch a single continuous colour, with the titanium as the only break in it.
The reason this works better on your reference than on the steel version is the case tone. Against bright steel, a blue strap and a blue dial can look slightly flat — two blues separated by a mirror. Against gunmetal titanium the whole thing reads deeper and more expensive, because the metal is closer in value to the colour it is separating. Blue rubber strap →
2. Black — the lightest, quietest answer
The neutral, and the one that suits the thesis best. Black rubber adds nothing visually and nothing on the scales: the case reads as one dark object, the blue dial becomes the only colour on the watch, and you are wearing the lightest possible configuration of a watch you bought for being light.
It is also the collection's best seller, and the strap you will actually reach for on a Tuesday. Black rubber strap →
3. Baby blue — the one titanium can carry
Pale blue is a difficult colour on a steel sports watch; it tends to look washed out next to all that brightness. Against a darker, greyer case it does the opposite — the contrast is real, the strap looks intentional, and the watch lightens up without losing its seriousness.
This is the summer strap for a watch that is already the comfortable one. Baby blue rubber strap →
4. Red — the only colour the watch does not already have
Blue dial, blue bezel, grey case. There is no third colour anywhere on this watch, which means red is not competing with anything — it is simply the loudest available way to make a subtle, twenty-five-year-old titanium chronograph impossible to ignore.
Not an everyday choice. But on a blue-and-grey watch it is a clean one rather than a busy one, which is not true of red on most divers. Red rubber strap →
Related Omega guides
- Omega Seamaster Diver 300M strap guide — the modern 42mm generation
- Omega Seamaster 300 Heritage 234.30.41.21.01.001 strap guide
- All Omega strap guides
Ready to change it?
Helvetus is one of the largest names in aftermarket luxury watch straps, and our Omega straps are cut to specific cases rather than trimmed from a universal blank — so a 20mm strap sits flush at the lugs instead of leaving a gap.
All rubber straps carry a lifetime warranty. Shipping is free worldwide, there are no import costs wherever you order from, and more than 50,000 customers have already made the swap.
Browse the straps that fit your Seamaster → See the full Omega strap range →
Helvetus is not affiliated with Omega SA. Model names are used for compatibility reference only.
